New Amp: Mesa Lonestar (Pix)

[madryan]

Got this yesterday. It's new, but the store has had it for some time. They were willing to mark it down pretty significantly, so I walked out with it for $1638 for the head and the cab, totally new, with all the goodies still wrapped in plastic, and with the full 5 year warranty. The cab is a bit dirty from sitting there but other than that it's mint.

I was actually looking for something nice and used in a boogie or possibly an Orange. I'd played the newer lonestars and while I liked them, I didn't like them that much. I plugged into this one because I'd never played one of the older blue ones and was blown away. Killer smooth lead sound and amazing clean right off the bat. It's got great tone and the price was right so now it's mine. I'm going to use this for my Blues/Soul group instead of my Flextone.

[åron]

Classy look with the blue tolex. Congrats.

[jaydog]

yeah, i had the same amp, bought it brand new and the pos shorted out on me and it caught on fire. took it back to the store where i bought it and got my money back. i guess something was wrong with the internal build quality causing it to short out. well, all is not lost i bought a triple xxx which sounds better anyway.

[JC_Denton]

Well i might be a dickhead but imo lonestar owns xxx

[madryan]

yeah, i had the same amp, bought it brand new and the pos shorted out on me and it caught on fire. took it back to the store where i bought it and got my money back. i guess something was wrong with the internal build quality causing it to short out. well, all is not lost i bought a triple xxx which sounds better anyway.

The Lonestar is something like 180deg different than a XXX. Much smoother, Much louder, Much less compressed, and capable of a whole range of sounds that IMO no peavey can really get. It's cool... You like your XXX, and I've played them a whole bunch, as well as gigging extensively with a JSX which I mentioned in another thread, but good luck getting a XXX to really work well playing Blues and Soul, which is what I need it for. Besides, if I want Brutal metal I just bought another VHT which will have either the XXX or the JSX cowering in the corner peeing on itself.

Also, there's nothing wrong with Mesa build quality. I had a Dual Rec (older 2 channel) that was built like a tank. My amp guy loved that amp because the inside was layed out well and all the components were of good quality. I expect the Lonestar is no different.

[Endrik]

ahhaa, it's pretty funny to compare Lonestar (a blues and jazz amp) to hi gain amp such as XXX

[madryan]

yeah, i had the same amp, bought it brand new and the pos shorted out on me and it caught on fire. took it back to the store where i bought it and got my money back.

Just out of curiosity, where'd ya buy it?

[toejam]

Very cool. Love the color!

[VitaminG]

Also, there's nothing wrong with Mesa build quality.

jaydog is just a bit pissy on the topic. He mentioned in another thread that his new XXX is built like a tank, and then got into a pissing match over internal build quality. And since you had the audacity to second guess him in the BBE-XXX thread, it looks like he felt compelled to pop in to your "new amp" thread and take a dump.

[madryan]

jaydog is just a bit pissy on the topic. He mentioned in another thread that his new XXX is built like a tank, and then got into a pissing match over internal build quality. And since you had the audacity to second guess him in the BBE-XXX thread, it looks like he felt compelled to pop in to your "new amp" thread and take a dump.

Dude comes across like an angry teenager. Maybe mommy didn't nurse him when he was a baby...

[wakeUPdead]

Gorgeous amp dude!

Let me tell ya. You can't fuck with Mesa Amplifiers. I love my Dual Rectifier and I honestly have never been let down by any Mesa gear. They take time to get used to, and whenever I read a thread about something saying they suck or blow or whatever, I just want to have them sit down with me so we can find that tone they like.

Yeah but I can dig people saying its not their bag, to each their own ya know! Cause hell I feel the same way about other amps every time I plug in and its not a Mesa.

Man its hard not to hit about every bit of the spectrum with a Mesa amp and if you know what your doing. A good start is always the manual!

-Mesa whore. haha.

[VitaminG]

Dude comes across like an angry teenager. Maybe mommy didn't nurse him when he was a baby...

hehe. I heard that Charlie Manson's mum used to dress him up in frilly dresses & bows.

btw, I didn't congratulate you on the new amp.

I've been watching one on Oz Ebay recently. A little out of my price range, and probably surplus to my requirements. But very tempting, all the same.

[madryan]

hehe. I heard that Charlie Manson's mum used to dress him up in frilly dresses & bows.

btw, I didn't congratulate you on the new amp.

I've been watching one on Oz Ebay recently. A little out of my price range, and probably surplus to my requirements. But very tempting, all the same.

I'd never heard that... I've always privately thought that men who hate/beat women weren't allowed to breastfeed.

This is a really cool amp, but I doubt it would be my only one. I have such diverse tastes in music that I need my nice smooth bluesy amp as well as my punishing riffs type of amp.

[jgcable]

Really nice looking amp and cab. I didn't know the Lonestar was a high gain metal amp. By the name alone.. I would think it would be more of a blues/classic rock type rig.
Give us some details on the type of gain it has.

[madryan]

Really nice looking amp and cab. I didn't know the Lonestar was a high gain metal amp. By the name alone.. I would think it would be more of a blues/classic rock type rig.
Give us some details on the type of gain it has.

It's not a metal amp... It's got the really smooth creamy lead sound that the Mark IV gets but a bit mellower. I was planning on using my VHT through a closed back 212 for rock/metal type sounds and use this for my blues/soul group.

As far as gain goes... It's got quite a bit, but not over the top gain. IMO, if you turn the gain up about 3/4 of the way it's about as much as I'd ever use. Picking dynamics are lightyears better than my old JSX, but not as good as some other amps I've played. I imagine I'll back the gain off even more when I crank it up for practice this week. You can dial in a pretty nice classic rock crunch sound as well. In fact, I'll probably end up setting it that way then using my Fulltone OCD to boost it ever so slightly for leads.

It's just a really smooth, thick sounding amp with a killer clean channel. IMO this is the nicest clean sound I've heard in a Mesa.